The U.S. Senate has announced the passage of the ROAD to Housing Act of 2025 (S.2651) within the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
The bipartisan Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream (ROAD) to Housing Act package addresses challenges across the housing ecosystem. S.2651 passed by a 24-0 vote out of the Senate Banking Committee in late July.
Introduced by Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the bill is built on years of bipartisan committee work, stakeholder engagement, and multiple hearings on the state of the nation’s housing market.
“The Senate’s passage of the ROAD to Housing Act is a win for housing affordability and consumers,” said Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) President and CEO Bob Broeksmit, CMB. “Many of the provisions within the bipartisan measure are aimed to take meaningful steps to boost housing supply, cut red tape in federal program offerings, and expand access to affordable mortgage credit for families nationwide.”
The bill now heads to the House of Representatives for approval, and then to the President’s desk to be signed into law.
Key Pillars Of The ROAD To Housing Act
- Section 401–Creating Incentives for Small Dollar Loan Originators: This Section requires the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to issue a report to Congress studying the effect of various factors of loan originator compensation on the availability of small-dollar mortgage loans and to assess the barriers they pose to the availability of small-dollar mortgages to consumers. It also gives the CFPB the flexibility to amend rules to encourage small-dollar loan origination.
- Section 402–Small Dollar Mortgage Points and Fees: This Section requires CFPB and the Federal Housing Finance Administration (FHFA) to evaluate the impact of existing regulations that limit the points and fees that lenders can charge on qualified mortgage loans, which vary by loan limit. Based on such evaluation, the provision directs CFPB to make any necessary regulatory changes to points and fees to help encourage additional lending for small-dollar mortgages.
- Section 403–Appraisal Industry Improvement Act: This Section helps bolster the appraiser workforce capacity, including by allowing both licensed and credentialed appraisers to conduct appraisals for FHA-insured mortgage lending transactions.
- Section 701–Requiring Annual Testimony and Oversight from Housing Regulators: This Section requires annual testimony on housing and community development issues from the heads of HUD, FHA, Ginnie Mae, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), FHFA, and the VA.
- Section 702–FHA Reporting Requirements on Safety and Soundness: This section requires HUD to report monthly to Congress on the state of statutorily required capital ratio of the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund, including a notice to Congress any time that ratio falls below statutorily required levels.
- Section 703–United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) Oversight: This Section requires USICH to provide an update on the status of the plan to reduce homelessness in its annual planning process and requires annual USICH Congressional testimony.
- Section 705–Appraisal Modernization Act: This Section requires mortgage lenders to maintain procedures to allow for consumer-initiated requests for second appraisals, or reconsiderations of value, when they believe there may be an issue with their appraised home value.
- Section 801–HUD-USDA-VA Interagency Coordination Act: This Section directs HUD, USDA, and the VA to identify areas for collaboration to streamline and improve housing program implementation.
- Section 202–Increasing Housing in Opportunity Zones: This Section enables the HUD Secretary to give added weight to applicants for competitive HUD grants that are located in, or primarily serve, designated Opportunity Zones to support housing preservation and construction.
- Section 203–Housing Supply Frameworks Act: This Section directs HUD to develop best practice frameworks for zoning and land-use policies, helping communities identify and overcome barriers to housing development.
- Section 206–Build Now Act: This Section creates a pilot program to incentivize housing development of all kinds in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) participating jurisdictions, excluding states.
- Section 208–Unlocking Housing Supply Through Streamlined and Modernized Reviews Act: This Section right-sizes National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) review for small and infill housing projects, which will simplify the review process and get projects to construction faster.
- Section 210–Accelerating Home Building Act: This Section establishes a HUD-administered grant program to help communities establish preapproved housing designs, or pattern books, to help streamline and expedite local construction processes and build more homes.
- Section 212–Revitalizing Empty Structures into Desirable Environments (RESIDE) Act: This Section creates a competitive pilot discretionary program within the HOME Investment Partnerships program if the annual appropriation exceeds $1.35 billion to convert vacant and abandoned buildings into attainable housing.
- Section 213–Housing Affordability Act: This Section requires the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to study multifamily loan limits and then grants HUD rulemaking authority, with FHA input, to adjust those limits to better match housing market costs and enhance affordability.
The ROAD to Housing Act includes 40 provisions designed to increase housing supply, lower costs, and expand access to homeownership.
“Today, the Senate took a historic step towards addressing our nation’s worsening housing crisis and bringing down costs for the American people by passing the bipartisan ROAD to Housing Act,” added Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Ranking Member of Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. “This landmark legislation — the first of its kind in more than a decade — takes important steps to boost the nation’s housing supply, improve housing affordability, and increase oversight and efficiency of federal regulators and housing programs. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the House to get the bill to the President’s desk.”
